A Firework of Orange and Turquoise

Yellowstone is full of hot springs, bubbling mud pots and hissing geysers. One of the most famous thermal features that seems to be on every calendar, collage postcard and in every article about this beautiful national park is the Grand Prismatic Spring. Since we had never seen it before (I don't really know why) we visited it this time.

When you get there it doesn't really look like much, especially when the sun is hiding behind the clouds.

But then you get closer, and the sun leaves her hiding spot behind the clouds, and suddenly the entire scene changes!

The colors are just spectacular! You do need the sun out to see this place in all its glory. It's rather drab in overcast or even rainy weather.

I also loved the reflections of the clouds.

But it was the intense vivid color that completely fascinated me.

When you look toward the wooden hill in the picture above you can see people standing up on a small hill in the right half of the photo. Of course we had to find out how to get there.

It was only a 20 to 30 minutes walk up there and it was fully worth it, every single step. Just see for yourself.

Here you can also see the crowds - it was incredible. However, it didn't dampen our excitement about this amazing view.

If only I could bottle those colors and take them home!

It wasn't only the color, but the texture as well.

The Grand Prismatic Spring - located in the Midway Geyser Basin - is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world. Of course it got its name for its striking colors. Its colors match the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The water is mineral rich and the colors are a result of microbial mats around the edges of the water. The spring is about 370 feet in diameter (bigger than a football field) and 160 feet deep.

The Orange Spirit (August Break 2014)

Our prompt today is "orange". Beside it being my favorite color, it's also the color of the Dutch Royal Family which hails from the House of Orange. Members of the House of Orange are extremely popular in the Netherlands, and thus the color orange has come to symbolize the country, and to signify national pride.

During the World Cup the Netherlands - or as in these photos Amsterdam - was pretty much covered in orange. It is such a happy, spirited color - we had to smile every time we saw some orange banners or these footballs.

The flag of the Netherlands, however, is a horizontal tricolor of red, white, and blue.

Signs in pub windows invited for special deals (Oranje, Dutch for orange, is the nickname of the Dutch national football team)

After all the games won by Oranje: Happy Hour pay one for two

and, of course, for watching the games. 

Many boats had orange decorations while gliding through the grachten - so pretty to watch.

I personally had hoped that the Oranje team would be in the final game - Netherlands : Germany. Unfortunately this didn't happen, and Netherlands "only" got third place. To honor the Dutch spirit (and since the Dutch team had just won a game the day before) Kaefer wore orange while exploring Amsterdam.

PS: I am happy, though, that the German team won the World Cup. And a little bit proud of my country's team.

Getting Our Pumpkins

One of the October traditions we have adopted since living in the States is a visit to the pumpkin patch. I had thought that Kaefer might be a bit too old for that, but no - she came with us and had a wonderful time at the dairy farm that we discovered this fall, being like a little kid again.

It was a very low key pumpkin patch compared to some others which offer a wide variety of activities to families. This one had a few animals (goats and cows) that you could visit and pet, a jumpy house and a "sandbox" filled with organic wheat which seemed to be the biggest attraction. Beside the field of pumpkins of course.

This pumpkin patch was also different since it not only offered the typical jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but all kinds of different pumpkins as well. They were grown right there and most of them were still on the vine.

 One "thing" I always love at a pumpkin patch - beside my favorite color - is watching the kids. These little girls were adorable while they ran through the field, looking for the perfect pumpkin.

This toddler was irresistibly cute!!

And as you can see, this includes my own "little" girl.

Did I mention that she was like a little kid again?

Posing as the Pumpkin Lady Liberty

What about you? Do you visit a pumpkin patch in October?

I am linking up to Mandarin Orange Monday.

Celebrating Fall Colors

Inspiration Avenue is all into fall, and so this week's theme is "Celebrating fall colors of orange, yellow and brown". Oh bliss. May I add a little bit of green as well, please.

A couple weeks ago Jo and I went to the National Heirloom Expo here in town. It was a feast for the eyes, the nose and yes, if we had eaten there, the tasting buds. There was one building at the expo that was dedicated to pumpkins and gourds - at least so it seemed when you entered the building.

The heart of the expo certainly was this pyramid of gourds, squash and pumpkins:

But when you walked around this building - and we did go into every little corner of it - you saw other things apart from pumpkins and gourds that showed the glory of autumn - all heirloom, of course.

Flowers were all over the place as well - and they fit perfectly the color scheme of orange, yellow and brown.

The Beauty of Nature

After I haven't taken any pictures for a while I took quite a few last week, and I had some difficulties to decide which one would be the photo of the week. I finally went for this beautiful poppy that I found in the wildflower garden of my favorite bakery in Freestone.

Nature is the best painter, isn't she?

I'm linking this to Mandarin Orange Monday.

I Just Love Orange!

Orange is a color that really makes me happy. It is such a warm bright color that brightens up my darkest mood. As a sunny welcome I painted our entryway in orange - the color is called "Bird of Paradise" (Behr) and it's awesome. It puts a smile on your face. Of course, one of the walls in my studio is painted in that color as well.

What is your favorite color and why?

My Crooked Path Through Life

Oh boy, I'm late for Paint Party Friday and Sneak Peek Friday! This has been a busy morning, and I'm on the go again, but I at least want to post my contribution this week before I have to leave for my next appointment.

This is a mixed media painting on a 6x6 canvas. You sure can tell that I like orange and red... I just love bright happy colors. This is not done yet, I hope to finish her over the weekend. Again, it took me quite some time to work on this and I didn't like her for a long time until finally it somehow came together.

Acrylic paint as a base, I cut head and neck out of my old worksheet (the sheet that was lying under all the work I did and turned very colorful over the weeks) that I then finger-painted with gesso. The colors of the sheet still show through and give it some texture. I really like that, but it was hard to get the color of the face - I used PITT pens and more gesso for that. Eyes, nose and mouth are cut from the same worksheet. The headband is a piece of fabric, the dots and flowers cut-outs from the worksheet. I also stamped it to give the background more texture. Some glitter on her hair. And of course she's crooked...

Don't forget to visit all the other amazing artists participating in Paint Party Friday and Sneak Peek Studio!

Orange Please!

Last night, when I couldn't sleep, I decided that it is time to move on. This was a horrifying week, and I sincerely hope that it was the worst week in 2011. A HUGE thank you to all of you for your comments, prayers and e-mails - this has been so much help, and I know that one day Katie's family will feel the same gratitude for this wonderful community as I do (they already do).

But I think it is time to move on - and I'm convinced that this is exactly what Katie would like us to do, living life to the fullest just as she did.

I visited Inspiration Avenue just to check what their weekly challenge is, and it's an easy one - about color. Which is my color? Well, of course it's

Orange is bold and bright, daring and full of life, feisty and fun. It doesn't always fit in and it doesn't get along with everyone. It brightens up a dark place and is the light in spooky times. It's earthy and strong, powerful and magical; warm and welcoming. It stands out, is different. But it is also maturity and wisdom combined with playfulness, though sometimes plain silly.

I need more orange in my life, and I'm determined to get it!

Coffin Tag

It's been some time since I participated in any challenges. But when Louise at Kard Krazy's newest Tag Tuesday challenge was "black and orange" I knew that I had to make a tag. I got the idea for the shape from Lou and Mel at Scrap-ology.

I had so much fun with this tag that I decided to make more and give them to my guests at our upcoming Halloween party. Here's an entire coffin full of bats and skulls.

Stamps are by Inkadinkado  (skull) and Zimprints (bat).

Decoupaging Pumpkins

Good morning, WOYWWers -

yes, it's morning here, and I know, most of you probably already enjoy their afternoon tea. I'm still at my first cup of coffee!

So here's my desk this morning:

I'm decorating those paper mache pumpkins that glow in such a nice orange. I painted them with acrylic paint and now am going to decoupage them with all those little paper squares I'm currently cutting. I have no idea whether this will work out, I've never done this before. So it might be a disaster, it might be nice. We'll see.

If you want to peek at work desks around the world, hop on over to Julia's blog to find more!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

On Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch. It's one of our favorite things to do in October.

It was a brilliant day, with a deep blue sky, bright sunshine and the temperatures were pretty high as well. It always seems to be hot when we visit a pumpkin patch - hot, dusty and dirty. And lots of fun.

Kaefer brought along her friend and both girls took off happily - first into the corn maze, an excellent one this year that kept us occupied for the better part of an hour. Our rule in a maze like this is to always stick to the right which really works, although I sometimes thought "hey, I've been here before". But can you really tell among all those high stalks of corn? This time, our rule worked again and we made our way through the maze.

There were farm animals to visit and hay bails to play on, but we headed straight to the patch and while the girls went on the search for the perfect pumpkin, the Geek and I were in photography heaven. The bright light, though, was quite a challenge! But who can resist that orange?

 Kaefer and her friend with their treasures.

 I love the details.